July Quarterly Community Health Meeting Recap
We kicked off our July Quarterly Community Health Meeting on July 22 by inviting participants to share a song that reminds them of the summertime. It was very fun to hear all the different answers of our wonderful community members and get some new music recommendations!
The Frederick County Health Department and our four Local Health Improvement Process (LHIP) Workgroups shared what they are working on and what is to come.
Our special guest speaker, Rachel Harrison, LCPC, NCC, founder of Trauma Specialists of Maryland, LLC., led an engaging conversation about how best to support mental wellness in Frederick County. The conversation covered a wide array of topics including expanding provider training to make sure that all care provided is evidence based and trauma informed.
Frederick County Health Department Updates
Rissah Watkins, Director of the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Communication at the Frederick County Health Department (FCHD), updated participants on the status of recent Measles and Cyclosporiasis outbreaks in Maryland and reminded everyone to make sure they are up to date on their measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccinations. She also noted upcoming back to school vaccination clinics from August 5 to September 30 for children who do not have health insurance and free breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screenings for limited income adults over 40. More information about these events can be found on the FCHD website at Health.frederickcountymd.gov. She also told participants about FCHD’s online list of providers who accept Medicare (http://health.frederickcountymd.gov/ACCU) and upcoming Hood Health Hubs, a new initiative that aims to expand clinical practice in community health settings and improve population health through education.
Institutional and Systemic Racism Workgroup Updates
Healthier Frederick is proud to support the leadership of the Black Health Equity Coalition (BHEC) in their critical work to address institutional and systemic racism in Frederick County. While Healthier Frederick houses the LHIP, BHEC leads this work. Marci Corea, Healthier Frederick’s LHIP Workgroup Coordinator, shared updates from the three Workgroups and their goals to Expand Anti-Racism and Anti-Discrimination Training, Expand Representation and Capacity of Birth Workers, and Engage Community Members.
She also announced an in-person meeting on August 11 to discuss collaboration opportunities to address the health needs of the immigrant and refugee population in Frederick. Contact Marci at Marci@HealthierFrederick.org to learn more about this meeting.
Affordable Healthy Food Updates
Laura DeFeo, PHD, co-owner of DeFeo Family Farm, LLC, owner of Illumine & Align Integrative Health Coaching, LLC, and Affordable Healthy Food Workgroup leadership team member shared how the Workgroup is focusing their efforts on improving community health in Frederick County by increasing equitable access to healthy, affordable food through education, support for community-driven solutions, and increased public awareness of the connections between food access and health. They plan to continue doing this by expanding food access at Farmers Markets in Frederick County for SNAP recipients, sharing the ENOUGH Initiative Food Resources Guide and Supplement, and expanding partnerships with government, community organizations, local agriculture, and education.
Mental Health Workgroup Updates
Marci Corea shared that the Mental Health Workgroup is primarily focused on addressing lack of awareness of mental health resources and stigma. She specifically highlighted Healthier Frederick’s 'Share Your Story' Campaign to foster open conversation around mental health struggles and accessing supports in our community.
She also announced that Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) scholarship applications are now open. Healthier Frederick is providing up to 6 scholarships for Frederick County mental health treatment providers who serve residents of Frederick County to access no cost training in the provision of EMDR Therapy. More information can be found here. Please send any applications for training to Marci@HealthierFrederick.org by August 7 at 5:00 PM.
Finally, she mentioned that our Men’s Mental Health Toolkit is now available in Spanish and English.
Affordable Housing Workgroup Updates
The Affordable Housing Workgroup is addressing the lack of affordable housing in Frederick County in partnership with the Frederick Housing Solutions Task Force. Leadership team members Ann Ryan and Sharon Stromberg shared information about their four priority projects for 2026. The Affordable Housing Build project will develop faith-based partnerships, perform site identification and feasibility studies, and create a development ecosystem and project pipeline for building on unused land owned by houses of worship in Frederick County. The Shared Housing Pilot seeks to create a scalable shared housing model that safely matches residents with hosts, provide ongoing support for both parties, and increase options for seniors to stay in their own homes. Through their Single Room Occupancy project, the taskforce will identify build and renovation projects, partner with developers to increase inventory of deeply affordable single room occupancy (SRO) units, and ensure that supportive services are an integral part of each project. Finally, the Landlord Outreach project is designed to improve vacancy visibility by engaging small landlords through peer learning networks and exploring innovative housing models.
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